Several different technical solutions are known to the art for water dispensing-storing devices mounted to the interior of refrigerators, in the inner portion of the cabinet body or the inner liner of the door of the refrigeration apparatus, in order to allow the user to gravitationally receive the water, by means of a faucet connected to the water reservoir of the device and arranged in the interior of the refrigerator or in a recess provided in the outer side of the door.
Independent of the type of assembly used in the faucet to be operated by the user, some of these known constructions comprises a water reservoir, adequately mounted to the interior of the cabinet or the inner liner of the door, so as to be removable for cleaning and maintenance operations, the reservoir being provided of an upper opening to be closed, at least in part, by the bottom wall of a filling container, removably seated over the water reservoir.
The filling container is generally configured in the form of a tray and sized to allow the user to deliver, in its interior, a predetermined amount of water to be gravitationally transferred to the water reservoir by means of a filter removably mounted to the bottom wall of the filling container, generally on the latest, and which consists of the unique filtering and gravitational fluid communication between the filling container and the water reservoir.
The above mentioned constructive arrangement allows the user to have filtered water in the interior of the reservoir and to be gravitationally released by the dispensing faucet, positioned in the interior of the refrigerated cabinet or even in the outer portion of the refrigerator's door.
One construction of such type is disclosed in document U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,984 B1. In such construction, the filter is removably mounted by means of the bottom wall of the filling container, crossing said wall downwardly, no particular construction is established for providing a secure and fluid tight assembly to the bottom wall of the filling container, so as to indicate to the user the correct adaptation of the filter and the certainty that the filter element consists of the unique and possible gravitational fluid communication between the filling container and the water reservoir.
Further according to the previous construction, the filter is simply fitted, by means of its own weight, to the seat provided in the bottom wall of the filling container, the sealing between the filter and said bottom wall being obtained solely by the compression of the filter peripheral flange against the edge, in the form of seat, of a respective opening provided in the bottom wall of the filling container.
These and other constructions of the prior art, besides having the same basic construction, do not provide a secure and efficient assembly of the filter to the bottom wall of the filling container, for granting an adequate tightness in the connection between the filter and the bottom wall of the filling container and further a clear visual indication to the user that the filter assembly was carried out in a correct way.